


Reality and Expectation

by Xeen



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Gen, android with feelings, conversation in a bar, missing leg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 20:37:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xeen/pseuds/Xeen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm missing a leg, Dorian, not a toe!"<br/>"You're missing my point."</p><p>In the aftermath of "Unbound". Missing scene. [not canon: written before the episode aired! my bad]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reality and Expectation

Dorian observed the motley crew populating the crowded bar with a blank face. After a while, he turned back to Kennex and leaned over their table. "What are we doing in a bar John? You know that I don't drink."

"Yeah." Kennex didn't look up, he simply shook his head.

"You should go home, get some rest. She's gone. She won't harm anyone else."

"Yeah, whatever."

Dorian sat back, clasping his hands on the table. "I'm guessing we're not here, in that booth, to reminisce about our last case."

"Damn right we're not!" Kennex glared.

"And here it is…" the android's mouth twitched.

"What?!"

"Nothing."

"Dorian I swear…"

"I can read you like an open book, John. And what you're thinking, right now, it hurts my feelings."

"Your feelings, don't start again with your feelings," Kennex finally exploded, "just be quiet and let me drink in peace."

"Do you want me to leave, John?"

"Mmmm," Kennex muttered, looking everywhere but at Dorian.

"Okay. I will tell you a tale then. The human body is extraordinary plastic, man. It will compensate for missing parts as well as it can. Of course, it's easier when you're just missing a finger, or two. Your hand will twist, undergo infinitesimal transformations, it will adjust so that it still remains functional. The scars will shrink and flatten, and eventually, your mind will reconcile reality with expectation."

"I'm missing a leg, Dorian, not a toe!"

"You're missing my point."

"Ah, ah!"

"I don't reconcile reality with expectation. You still feel your leg when you wake up, and only then you remember it's gone. You cannot erase that memory. It's what makes you human. You don't want to lose that, John. I, on the contrary, have the ability to hit 'delete' because I am a machine. So it's either one reality or another." Dorian took a deep breath, though technically, he didn't need to. "You cannot be jealous of Nigel. He created me."

"What are talking about?" Kennex said too loudly, avoiding his partner intent stare.

"I saw what I saw John. I may be a bot, but I cannot control what I feel, or how I feel. And yes, it was an important moment in my life to be reunited with my creator."

"And why would I care?" Kennex shrugged his shoulders, his hands clenched on his glass.

"I can't control my… disco face, but I will, eventually. And you will eventually regret my previous candour. For now, what you see is what you get." Kennex opened his mouth but Dorian shook his head. "Listen. Do I make you laugh? Do I make you angry?"

"Damn right you do!"

'What's more human? I'm learning, John. Don't take it against me. I am your leg. I am your other self. I'm your partner. I know you will always have my back and I trust you with my life, whatever it means to you. I am what I am, I can't change that. And just like you, I'm more than the sum of my parts. It doesn't mean I don't care any less about you when Nigel is around. Shall we go now?" 

 


End file.
